What's so special about the specification Notch wrote up or is it just that it's the first game that actually contains a CPU ingame that you can do whatever you want with? It sparked my curiosity, but I fail to grasp the thing that makes it so special suddenly everybody needs to write up code for it?

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Implementing a small and simple architecture is fun :) I was going to ignore this game, but maybe I'll write such VM too...
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delnanApr 5 '12 at 7:18

1

search for LittleBigPlanet logic on youtube and be amazed, you can create a turing machine with the logic available in LBP1 but the extra logic available in LBP2 makes this muich easier though less visualy impressive
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ratchet freakApr 5 '12 at 7:24

has anyone written a C compiler for it already?
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ratchet freakApr 5 '12 at 7:25

4

so you can write a virus, place it on the internet (claim it's a great mining algorithm) and take over your opponents ships.
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thorsten müllerApr 5 '12 at 7:27

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Before Notch announced a programmable 16bit CPU for his game, people implemented actual CPUs in Minecraft using nothing but torches and ground stone. It's just something that people do because they can.
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KovenskyApr 5 '12 at 10:54

2 Answers
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I wouldn't say it was the first. Core War at least has been around since 1984.

Core War (or Core Wars) is a programming game in which two or more battle programs (called "warriors") compete for the control of the "Memory Array Redcode Simulator" virtual computer ("MARS"). These battle programs are written in an abstract assembly language called Redcode. At the start each battle program is put into the memory array at a random location, after which each battle program can execute one instruction in turn. The object of the game is to cause all processes of the opposing program(s) to terminate (which happens if it executes a special instruction), leaving the victorious program in sole possession of the machine.

The original poster asked "is it just that it's the first game that actually contains a CPU ingame that you can do whatever you want with? " It is an answer to that question.
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Alan BApr 5 '12 at 18:07

The popularity come first from exposure: the Minecraft community isn't small and there is a non-insignificant subset of them that likes to mess around with specifics and technicalities and would see imlpementing the DCPU-16 emulator as a personal challenge.

Second, it's a very compact specification geared towards easy implementation (*). I'd be able to implement the basic emulator in 15 minutes to an hour in a language I know well.

(*) For example deciding what to read for one of the arguments is as "easy" as: